But we’ve all made an impulse buy
Example:
* Specific Tool to do a job easier
* Diet pills
* Etc
* Hardly ever works
Not just things to help us get stuff done
Try to get us to believe that that can help us…
* Feel Better
* Look Better
* Smell Better
* Date Better
* Be Better
And many times, we fall for it.
* Probably will again
►This Doesn’t just apply to things we buy, but with people too
* Trusted the wrong person and struggle to trust again
* Marriage in a bad place – No trust
* Relationship with kids strained – No trust
* Struggle dating – No trust
* Live in isolation – No trust
We’ve all came to God hoping…
* Life would get easier
* Things would get better
* Marriage would work out
* Kids would turn out ok
Hasn’t always been easy and the outcome hasn’t always been what we wanted
* Our trust in God can be fragile
* Some of you have God through some hard things and you struggle to trust Him at all
►God values you and your future far more than you do.
But He is not the only one Bidding on your future
* There is an active evil agent who wants to trick you and destroy you.
And one of his most effective tools is placing distrust in your heart towards God
Our struggle to trust God is a problem as old as humanity
<ADAM and EVE>
Genesis 3
4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
►This trust problem took hold quickly
<CAIN and ABEL>
Genesis 4
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
<ABRAHAM>
* God makes him a big promise.
Genesis 15
8 But Abram said, “Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”
Abraham was struggling to trust God at that moment
* But God did something incredible
He made a vow to uphold his promise by performing a binding ceremony
* Usually would be done between the wealthy or King
* Servants would go through
* Meant that if you don’t uphold your promise, whatever when through would be torn like the animals
God essentially said, If You or I do not uphold our promises, I will be broken and torn
God put Himself on the line when it came to making promises
Someone is generally seen as more trustworthy when they have something at stake. Skin in the game.
Joshua knew this…
►To live under God’s promise, you have to live with his direction
Joshua 24
14 “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
Their trust in God must be complete
* There were things in their past that still had their trust
* But God was the only one to do what it took to be trustworthy
We are often holding on to fake promises
* Afraid to Give God everything – all our trust
15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.
You can’t sit in the middle
* There is no partial trust
We must always evaluate what is holding our trust and where we are placing our hope.
* Joshua knew that there was so much bidding for the heart of the people of Israel, Just like there is with us.
►To live under God’s promise, you have to live with his direction
But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”
Joshua has seen and trusted in the Goodness of God
* The was nothing else serving or trusting
How would you finish that sentence?
* Me and my household, we serve ______________ (Blank)
►Choose on this day who you will trust – Not just believe in but trust
* Is it yourself, The gods of our culture, Or Jesus
►Charles H. Spurgeon:
“God is too good to be unkind, too wise to be mistaken; and when you cannot trace His hand, you can trust his heart.”
Let’s look at communion in a different light today
* The ultimate expression of trustworthiness from Jesus
He displays His love for us by following through with his promise to Abraham all those years ago
* He never breaks a promise…
Luke 22
14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. (The binding agreement with Abraham) 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
Our trust in God is based on an even, not a book, a theology, or simple faith
* God is trustworthy